For example, the requirement, on the NDB hold, to be established within 5 degrees on the inbound to the beacon was reduced from 30 secs to 15 secs and very recently to 5 secs.
There is not (and never was) any requirement to be established on the inbound track for a specific time before reaching the beacon. Doc 8186 states merely that
"Due allowance should be made in both heading and timing to compensate for the effects of wind to ensure the inbound track is regained before passing the holding fix inbound." Even the current requirement of 5 seconds is open to challenge if it can be shown that the ICAO requirement was met.
I thought we had laid to rest the concept of CAA 'Skygods' making up the rules as they went along but, clearly, the current crop of examiners are trying to re-invent a wheel that was long ago proved to be square.